There are several reasons that could be given, but one not to be overlooked is marketing.

Marketing, as in, “Wow, this has balanced outputs and the matching amplifier has balanced inputs, therefore this is ‘serious’ equipment and must be better.” Also, conversely, should the Outlaw new flagship pre/pro not have balanced outputs, and balanced outputs become more prevalent in the near high-end market, consumers will think the units without balanced outputs are lacking something that’s needed, whether it’s really needed or not. Therefore it’s not necessarily what’s best that drives the market and influences design, but what is perceived to be “best” by the customer and what is perceived to be “needed” by the customer that becomes helpful in the competition of the marketplace.

Tell me you can’t think of features that started with a couple manufacturers and within a year just had to be a part of every mass market receiver/processor and are now considered near useless by most people once the hype of the fad has moved on to a different feature set?

Now, there are genuinely good reasons to use balanced connections, and balanced connections are not just a passing fad used to help sales, but don’t discount a manufacturers’ need to both lead consumer perception and then meet that perception with products.

I’d buy a pre/pro with balanced outputs if there were a dozen other good reasons to buy that pre/pro, but I wouldn’t turn my world upside-down just to have balanced connections. That being said, for the success of Outlaw and for those that will find balanced connections a definite benefit, I’m glad the 990 has balanced outputs.

(I must have been writing this while Soundhound was posting!)